Reel.



PATENTED MAR. 27, 1906.

J. D. HOLT.

REEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1905.

J A MES D. HOLT, OF CARNEGIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

REEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 27, 1906.

Application filed June 13, 1905. Serial No- 265,053-

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES D. HOLT, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Carnegie, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reels, of which the following is a specification, refercnce being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements in reels, particularly to reels employed for use in connection with clothes-lines; and the invention has for its object the provision of novel means for the winding of a line upon the reel, the rapid unwinding of the line when desired, the holding of the reel at any desired position, the effective guiding of the line when unwinding or winding the same, the provision of novel means for sustaining the reel when the line has been unwound to the desired extent, and certain other novel features of construction which will be more fully described and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown an embodiment of my invention, without, however, desiring to limit myself to the precise construction herein shown, reference being had in the description to such construction in order to enable others skilled in the art to clearly understand and construct the same.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clothes-line reel constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a part of the reel. Fig. 5 is a detached detail perspective view of the lineguide and Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a part of the suspension post or stud, showing the line-fastener and the end thereof.

The reel proper embodies a hub 1, fixed on a sleeve 2. The ends of this sleeve project beyond the ends of the hub, and fixed on these projecting ends are the side plates 4 and 5 of the reel. The sleeve revolves on a pin or axle 3, which at its one end has a head 6 to engage the plate 4, with the other end extending some distance beyond the plate 5 and entering a suspension stud or post 7, which also forms a holding-handle and which will be hereinafter more fully described.

The line Sis wound on the hub 1, the plates 4 5, hub 1, and sleeve 2 revolving on the pin or central axle 3. These parts are revolved by means of a suitable handle 9, carried by plate A line-guide is provided and is preferably composed of a single piece of wire coiled at one end, as at 10, around one end of the post 7 and extending outwardly, forming an arm 11, this arm at its outer end being bent into a loop or eye 12, so constructed (see Fig. 2) that the line may readily be engaged in this loop or eye without necessitating the threading of the same thereinto To permit such insertion of the line into the loop or eye 12, I form said loop by spirally coiling the free end of the wire, leaving the spiral portions of the coil some distance apart, so that the line may be passed therebetween into the eye. I

In operation the reel is held in the left hand by means of the post 7, whether in unwinding the line or in winding the line on the reel, and in order to allow free revolution of the reel the left hand is also used to retract the springpawl 13 out of engagement with the groove 14 in the plate 5. A plurality of these grooves 14 are provided, extending radially from the axis of the plate, and as these plates are usually of light metal a practical method of manufacturing is to stamp plates with the radial grooves 14 therein. In the present illustration I have shown both of the plates as provided with these radial grooves, both plates being made by the same stamp; but it will of course be evident that only the plate 5 need neces sarily be provided with the grooves, as the locking of this plate necessarily looks the entire reel. The pawl 13 is made from a single piece of wire, which has a finger-piece 15 at one end projecting slightly above the post 7, the wire being bent to form the pawl or dog 13, which takes into one of the grooves 14 and being held by lapping the same around the coil 10 and also securing the other end of the wire in the stud or post 7, as at 16. In the outer end of the stud or post 7, forming the holding-handle, I provide a wire fastener 17, which consists of a single piece of wire doubled upon itself and having both ends secured in the end of the holding-handle 7, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The doubled outer end of this wire is then bent upon itself to form the receiving-loops 18 and 19, the receivingloop 18 having an oifset or projection 20 and the receiving-loop 19 having a receiving-recess 21.

To unwind the line, the free end thereof,

which extends through guide 12, will be attached to one of the supporting-posts for the line, and the operator by then holding the reel by means of the holding-handle 7 places one or more of the fingers over the iingerpiece and presses the same toward the holding-handle 7, so as to withdraw the bent end 13 thereof forming the pawl away from the side plate 5, and thus allowing the reel to be free to revolve, so that the line will unwind as the operator walks away from the post to which the one end of the line has been at tached. As soon as pressure on the fingerpiece 15 is relieved the pawl flies into engagement with the side plate 5 and takes into the first groove 14 with which it comes in contact, locking the reel in position against unwinding movement. When the line has been unwound to the desired distancethat is, to the other post to which it is to be attachedit may be fastened to said. post, and the line is then drawn up into loop 18 above projection 20 and also inserted into loop 19, thus securing the line to the last post to which it has1 been attached and also sustaining the ree To rewind, after the line has been unfastened from. the sustaininghook in the end of the holding-handle 7 the operator can grasp the holding-handle 7 in the left hand and by pressure on the finger-piece 15 moves pawl 13 outwardly away from the path of travel of plate 5, so that as the reel is turned by means of handle 9 the line will be rewound upon the reel.

It is preferable to provide a knot or have other means on the free end of the line that passes through the loop 12, so that the line will not come unthreaded from said guide,

and if it is desired to remove the line from said guide at any time it may be quickly and easily done without removing the knot from the end of the line by simply passing it out through space 22, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Many minor details of construction may be changed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the precise construction of parts as is herein shown and described.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a device of the character described, a handle, an axle rigidly held in one end of said handle, and having a head on its outer end, a sleeve revolubly mounted on said axle between said head and the end of the handle, a reel fixed on said sleeve to revolve therewith and comprising a hub surrounding the sleeve, and side plates fixed on the ends of said sleeve, a handle carried by the outer of said side plates, the inner of said side plates having radial grooves, a pawl formed of a piece of wire having one of its ends secured to the handle and bent to form a projection to engage one of the grooves in the said side plate, and to form a finger-piece lying alongside the handle, and a line-guide formed from a piece of wire having one end affixed to the said handle, and its outer end formed with an eye to receive a line, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES D. HOLT.

Witnesses H. C. EVERT, E. E. POTTER. 

